PORTO, Portugal – Critical Manufacturing, the Manufacturing Operations Platform company making Industry 4.0 a reality, has been chosen by Black Semiconductor GmbH to deliver the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and automation backbone for the company’s new 300mm semiconductor wafer facility, called FabONE, in Aachen, Germany. The facility will scale Black Semiconductor’s graphene-based chip connection technology into a mass-production capable environment, marking one of Europe’s most ambitious semiconductor innovation projects.
FabONE is a true greenfield site, designed from the outset as a fully automated frontend fab. Black Semiconductor invited Critical Manufacturing to participate in a competitive Request for Proposal (RfP), drawing on the MES provider’s strong track record in advanced semiconductor facilities. Critical Manufacturing’s experience in automating frontend facilities was a key consideration for Black Semiconductor as they searched for a partner capable not only of managing the complexities of a next-generation fab but also of building on a tried-and-tested automation framework.
“FabONE represents a significant step for our technology enablement and for the European semiconductor ecosystem,” said Samivel Krishnamoorthy, Senior Director of Fab Automation & Integration. “We knew that we needed a Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) partner with deep experience in fully automated frontend environments. A partner that is prepared and willing to move at the fast pace of our project. Critical Manufacturing stood out for its completeness of MOM capabilities as a platform beyond just the traditional Manufacturing Execution System (MES), which we seek for the start-up nature of Black Semiconductor. This is not a typical deployment; we are building something that must prove production maturity rather quickly, reliably and at scale. We hope this platform gives us the foundation to do exactly that now and in the future.”
The project includes the full suite of Critical Manufacturing MES modules, native Equipment Integration (EI) utilizing Critical Manufacturing’s Connect IoT modules, integration with Black Semiconductor’s selected Automated Material Handling System (AMHS) and ERP solutions, and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled Data Platform to provide advanced data driven analytics and decision-making capabilities at Black Semiconductor. Once operational, FabONE will run with minimal operator intervention, enabling Black Semiconductor to validate process stability, demonstrate manufacturability and progress towards volume production.
For Critical Manufacturing, the win signals a major European milestone. The company has worked for years on automation frameworks for compound semiconductor and microelectronics customers, and FabONE demonstrates its readiness to support advanced 300mm semiconductor frontend manufacturing.
“This project is important not only because of its scale, but because of what Black Semiconductor is trying to unlock,” said Tom Bednarz, Managing Director at Critical Manufacturing, Germany. “Graphene-based chip interconnects represent a bold step for the industry and turning that vision into a production-capable reality requires an MES that can keep pace with constant innovation. We are proud to support Black Semiconductor as they build a fab that is both highly automated and highly adaptable. It is precisely the kind of challenge our MES was designed for.”
As digital infrastructure becomes indispensable to semiconductor competitiveness, the partnership reinforces Critical Manufacturing’s role in enabling modern, data-driven fabs across Europe and beyond. It also positions both companies to scale together as FabONE evolves from a pilot line into a cornerstone of next-generation semiconductor manufacturing.
